Useful Searches

Everything Android is a community forum that makes it easy to ask questions about anything and everything Android. It's 100% free and no registration required (though we think it would be awesome if you joined our community). Our community of experts are here to help.

Galaxy S3 knockoff - does GPS work, can I change firmware?

Hi allI hope that I am in the right place.I currently have a MyTouch phone but was in China last week and saw these Galaxy S3 knockoffs and figured I would buy one.I am now back in the States and the Galaxy works quite well but there are a few things I cannot get to work and was hoping someone could help.Firstly the data connection from my service provider seems quite slow compared to the MyTouch.Secondly the GPS does not seem to work. I have tried a few different combinations but no luck. I have enabled and disabled the Google location in the settings to no avail. I have left the phone on for more than 15 minutes trying to get a GPS signal but still no luck.I know that the phone is a knockoff and did not expect much but it sure does work faster than the MyTouch – apart from the GPS and data.So my question is –Is there a way to get it to work? Would it be possible to reload the software on the phone with one from an original Galaxy? I am not sure of the terminology but does that mean I would need to flash the phone or root the phone – if this is the case, how easy is it to do and would it brick my phone?Where would I get the firmware from to do so?Any (detailed) help would be greatly appreciated.

Bronze

Aug 24, 2012

1

I don't think it's ever worth it in the long run to buy knock-offs. First you have the problem of the frequencies not being compatible from different world regions and carriers. And secondly... who am I kidding, the main thing is it's a knock-off. You simply cannot expect them to work just as any other S3 would work! I believe you are stuck, my friend!

SponsoredAdvertisement

Well I did not buy it expecting everything to be perfect and kinda expected some issues. However I have seen some posts where people have rooted them and changed the firmware, I am just not sure how to do that and can't decide if it is worth the risk of bricking the phone. At this point I probably won't use it because of the GPS issue but then again maybe taking the chance is in fact worth it if I am not going to use the thing.

Bronze

Well I did not buy it expecting everything to be perfect and kinda expected some issues. However I have seen some posts where people have rooted them and changed the firmware, I am just not sure how to do that and can't decide if it is worth the risk of bricking the phone. At this point I probably won't use it because of the GPS issue but then again maybe taking the chance is in fact worth it if I am not going to use the thing.

Thanks for your reply

Click to expand...

If you've seen some posts where people have rooted them and changed the firmware, I highly suggest you ask those people. But you must first make sure they have the exact same knock-off model that you do. Internal hardware can be very different when it comes to electronics, especially knock-offs.